Acting deputy Homeland Security secretary Ken Cuccinelli and the head of the National Counterterrorism center. The fbi director said at the hearing that the fbi has not seen widespread voter fraud. Wisconsin senator ron johnson chaired this two hour, 40 minute hearing. Good morning. This hearing will come to order. I want to first welcome and thank our witnesses, christopher wray, the director of the federal bureau of investigation, christopher miller, the director of the National Counterterrorism center, and kenneth cuccinelli, the senior official performing the duties of the deputy secretary. This is our annual threat hearing. When i take a look at all of the threats that this committee has considered and all of the threats facing this nation, i think its pretty interesting, you know, how many hearings weve held on so many of these things. Before i proceed, i guess i would ask for unanimous consent to have my written Opening Statement be entered in the recor record. If you consider these threats, cyberattacks and these cyberattacks, ramsonware, intellectual property threat, the hundreds of billions of dollars of Economic Loss due to intellectual property theft, potential cyberattacks and threats against our Critical Infrastructure, Drug Trafficking, and the overdose crisis. Gangs like ms13, emp threats, the use of drone, human trafficking, Election Security, and school and other Mass Shootings. These are issues, these are threats that this committee has not only held hearings on but passed some pretty significant pieces of legislation. One hearing we had talking about school shootings. We had parents come in from parkland, florida, to describe, you know, hopefully what could be some Commonsense Solutions to help prevent or minimize the destruction from some of these Mass Shootings. And so as we consider all of these things and will be considering these today in our hearing, i do want to raise the troubling aspect of whats happening currently in the streets of america. As serious as all of these threats are, i have a growing fear that whats happening on the streets of america actually represent a greater threat for a longterm democracy. As senator peters pointed out yesterday and will point out again today, the Mass Shootings over the last couple of years certainly have instead of being perpetrated by islamic terror, theres a growing percentage, a majority, now perpetrated by White Supremacists. As acting secretary wolf said yesterday, the whats happening in terms of Mass Shootings over the last couple of years is completely different about versus whats happened in the last four months. And i just want to cite a study, this was established by u. S. Crisis project, it was a joint effort by the Armed Conflict location and event data project at princeton university. They take a look at whats happening in the streets. They analyzed and they provided data on the last three months of demonstrations. What they found is there have been more than 10,600 total. They also went back in july of 2019 and said on average, for at least for july, there were 1,400 demonstrations in 2019. So you take a look at that, you say, well, a normal level of demonstrations every month is about over three months would be 4,200. So this year, weve had 10,600 or an excess number of 6,400. They also analyzed whos protesting who recollects are the demonstrators. About 7,750 of those protests have been linked to black lives matter in all 50 states and the d. C. Now what they found is of the 10,600, about 95 were peaceful. In other words, 5 turned violent and turned into some kind of riot. The peaceful ones were about peaceful in 2,040 locations. But the 5 that turned into being a riot, property destruction, loss of life, occurred in 220 locations. It was minimal. Its only 5 turned violent. That represents 570 riots that occurred in this nation over the last few months that they studied. Almost 570. And weve seen loss of life. Weve seen destruction of property. In my own state in wisconsin, kenosha, the protests turned into property destruction. Dozens of businesses burned down, the downtown all boarded up. And of course the final night of those riots, two people lost their life as well. So now weve seen in louisville last night, where two Police Officers were shot and our thoughts and prayers go out to them and their families for a speedy and full recovery. Why did that first of all, why were those people protesting . Why did that turn into a riot . They were protesting because they didnt agree with our system of justice. Where a grand jury take a look at all of the evidence and brought forward an indictment, but it wasnt the indictment or enough indictments that they wanted. So rather than accepting our judicial system that has served this nation well for as long as weve been a nation, these individuals turned to rioting and turned to destruction. So what i would like to do right now and ask the Senate Recording Studio to play a short video of a supposedly peaceful protest following president trumps acceptance speech at the white house. [ shouting ] move the [ muted ] back. Breonna taylor back up, please. Watch out, bro. I got you. Fortunately senator paul, his wife and their guests were not harmed. But they were scared, you know, unbelievably and they had every right to be frightened by how they were accosted and how they were threatened. That is not a peaceful protest. And, you know, the fact of the matter is, when you take a look at these statistics from the center, they didnt even they found the study found there were no riots in seattles c. H. O. P. Or chaz. Im not sure of the statistics. But, once again, 570 peaceful protests turned into rioting, turned into property destruction and loss of life. And, by the way, i can see the point that the Mass Shootings are a majority of those come from White Supremacists. Those people i denounce White Supremacists. Those 7,750 demonstrations, the 570 that turned into riots, those are not being perpetrated by White Supremacists. Those are being perpetrated by people with leftist ideology, that are perpetrating the ie yachti rioting that we cannot allow in this country. And another point is even a peaceful protests that continue to linger day after day after day as happened in kenosha where the downtown was boarded up. Even if it doesnt result in direct property loss or loss of life, those types of protests can turn into sieges that deny other americans their institutional rig constitutional right to operate a business or allow themselves to provide for themselves and their families. So this is a serious issue. We cant slough it off. Ill point out the number again, 570 that turned into riots, into property destruction and loss of life. Those are the facts. I dont like it. Of all of the threats this nation faces right now, this current one gives me the greatest cause for concern right now. Hopefully we can have a great discussion of all of the threats but, again, i want to highlight how serious the current threats of whats happening in our streets today, what happened in louisville last night, what a serious threat that poses and what side of the political spectrum are those protests springing from. Senator peters . Thank you, mr. Chairman. And thank you to each of our witnesses for being here today. While our committee has no shortage of serious and consequential issues to tackle our annual threats hearing is one of the most important opportunities that we have to discuss how we can better safeguard our nation. We continue to face a number of security threats both old and new. And over the past year since we last held this hearing, unfortunately, that list has only continued to grow. Not only do we continue to face critical threats from foreign and domestic terrorism, cyberattacks and efforts by Foreign Governments to sow chaos within our country, were dealing with a once in a lifetime pandemic that has taken the lives of over 200,000 americans. This Public Health disaster has exposed security risks embedded in the tools that we use every single day to connect us with the world. As we have moved more of our daily lives online because of coronavirus, bad actors have exploited the technological weaknesses to attack the platform that is we use for Remote School and work. Adversaries are working to infiltrate private companies and Government Agencies who are part of the critical race to find a vaccine. Both foreign and domestic doctors have seized on misinformation and disinformation chipping away at the very fabric of our democracy and sowing discord and mistrust in the institution that is we rely on everyday to keep us safe. The scorch of White Supremacists violence is a longstanding issue but is the greatest threat to American Safety and security. Im alarmed that this administration continues to downplay this threat and the root causes driving these ideologies. We cannot be shortsighted when it comes to protecting our National Security. As threats continue to develop and to evolve our National Security agencies, must be willing to adapt. We count on dhs, the National Counterterrorism center, and the fbi to Work Together and to provide a unified effort to defend the homeland. As we discussed at yesterdays hearing, im concerned that the dhs has suffered because of a lack of qualified, consistent and stable leadership at the agencys home. And while im disappointed the department does not believe the acting secretary can testify alongside his counterparts from the fbi and the national counterism center, im looking forward to testimony from all three of the officials here today. Many americans will never know the names of the thousands of personnel that work tirelessly behind the scenes at each of your agencies to keep our country safe. But were all counting on you and your teams to address the known threats to our safety. Anticipate the emerging as well as the unknown dangers our communities are going to face in the weeks, the months, years, and decades ahead. Im grateful for each of you for joining us here today. I look forward to hearing from you about the threats that america currently faces, what your departments are doing to address each of these threats, and how this committee and your agencies can continue to Work Together to protect our National Security. Thank you. Thank you, senator peters. I think our witnesses will hear that repeatedly. I think we truly do appreciate your service to this nation and certainly the service and sacrifice of the men and women that work in each of your departments and agencies. But it is the tradition of this committee to swear in witnesses. If youll all stand and raise your right hand. Do you swear that the system you will give before this committee will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god . I do. Thank you. Please be seated. Our first witness is christopher wray. Director wray is the director of the fbi. He was sworn in as the eighth fbi director. Director wray . Good morning, chairman johnson, Ranking Member peters, members of the committee, im honored to be here today on behalf of the men and women of the fbi to discuss our nations top threats from the fbis perspective and what were doing to counter those threats. I know we all share a lot of the same concerns about topics ranging from international and domestic terrorism, to cybersecurity to the violence in our streets and particularly this year, to the threat of foreign influence in our elections, just to name a few. I look forward to updating you on these and other important topics this morning. But i would like to begin by covering a few items that have been particularly top of mind for us at the fbi over the past few weeks. First, terrorism remains the fbis top priority, though, the nature of that threat has evolved significantly since 9 11, we are ever vigilant in our efforts to prevent attacks by International Terrorist groups like al qaeda and isis, those groups pose a threat not just to americans overseas but also here at home. Most notably by those we call home grown violent extremists, lone actors inspired by foreign terrorists, selfradicalized online and motivated to attack soft targets with readily available weapons. Were also working around the clock to prevent attacks by domestic terrorists who are inspired by one or more extremists ideologies to commit violent acts. In recent years, weve been laserfocused on threats posted by racially or ethically motivated violent extremists and they too are often radicalized online and move quickly to carry out their violent plans. As with any terrorism case, were focused on disruption, making arrests before a criminal can act. Just this year alone, through the hard work and dedication of countless men and women both at the fbi and across our partner agencies, weve successfully thwart thwarted terrorist attacks in kansas city, cleveland, oklahoma city, boston, phoenix and other locations. In recently months weve witnessed protests in various places around the country and many members of congress have raised a variety of questions about those protests and although the majority of protestors have been peaceful, we have opened investigations on individuals involved in critical activity at these protests. Some of whom adhere to violent extremist agendas designed to sow discord and upheaval. Let me be clear, we do not investigate groups or individuals based on ideology or on the exercise of First Amendment protected activity alone. When the ideology leads someone to commit criminal acts and pursue violence, the fbi will not hesitate to take appropriate action. Thats why weve been working closely with our federal, state and local partners to ensure the safety of our citizens, including the safety of those exercising their First Amendment right peacefully. We in Law Enforcement must keep our communities safe and secure while safeguarding our citizens Constitutional Rights and civil liberties. And as ive said before, one need not and must not come at the expense of the other. We also remain focused on other threats. In less than two months, americans will exercise one of their most cherished rights to vote in a free and fair election. Americans must have confidence in our Voting System and our election infrastructure. And thats why the security of our elections is and will continue to be one of our highest priorities. We are not going to tolerate foreign interference in our elections. And were working closely with our federal, state and local partners as well as the private sector to share information, bolster security and identity and disrupt any threats. Just recently, for example, we share threat indicators with facebook and twitter that allowed them to take down fake accounts as part of a Russian Disinformation Campaign before those accounts could develop some kind of broader following. Turning to the cyber arena, were focused on an increasingly diverse array of threats from our cyber adversaries, from statesponsored chinese intrusions to intrusions by russia, iran, north korea, sophisticated cyber criminals seeking to exploit technical vulnerabilities for personal profit. Last week i announced the fbis strategy leveraging the unique expertise and authorities to impose risks and consequences on our cyber adversaries. Were focusing on results on impact. That means were working to enable our partners operations as well as our own. So, for example, the fbi and nsa recently joined to expose highly sophisticated Russian Military intelligence malware providing the private sector and other government partners the indicators they need to disrupt that tool. And just last week, our investigations enabled a coordinated mix of disruption actions against five different iranian hacking groups, three of which worked for the iranian government, including criminal charges by doj, treasury sanctions and si sa and fbi alerts enabling potential victims to protect themselves. We also face the increasingly blended threat of state sponsored economic espionage facilitated by cyber intrusions. In july based on the fbis investigative work, carrying out a Global Computer Intrusion Campaign targeting hundreds of victims, including Companies Developing covid19 vaccines, Testing Technology and treatments. With that kind of behavior, china continues to undercut their own claims of being a trusted and effective partner in the international community. Last week, we unsealed charges against five chinese hackers who were targeting victims around the world from their safe haven in china. With our partners, we arrested two of their coconspirators in malaysia and seized or took down hundreds of the hackers accounts, servers and domains. Now, ive touched on only a handful of the important threats we face and only lightly at that, and of course there are many significant others. As the threats evolve in scale, impact, complexity and agility, were relying on our deep well of expertise, intelligence and partnerships. I am committed to ensuring that the bureau does great work while adhering to our core tenants of fidelity, bravery and integrity. In these challenging times, i remind